March onwards, time gap between metro trains on Noida’s Aqua Line to reduce during rush hours

The recently inaugurated Noida’s Aqua Line Metro has come as a boon for the residents of Delhi and Noida. It has linked Greater Noida-Noida and travelling from Delhi to Greater Noida has become a breeze.

Now, in a new move, the NMRC plans to run the Aqua Line metro trains every 10 minutes during the rush hour-which is from 8 am to 10 am in the morning and 5 pm to 8 pm in the evening.

Why run the metro every 10 minutes?

The reason for this change is very simple. Since the trains currently run 15 minutes apart, the stations and platforms tend to get rather crowded during peak timings. The rush hour begins at around 8 am in the morning and lasts till about 10 am. The other time when the platforms are crowded is during the evening rush hour from 5 pm to 8 pm in the evening.

Another reason for making the trains run more frequently is to boost ridership during the rush hour. Currently, commuters tend to avoid travelling in the metro during these timings because of the heavy rush. With the increased frequency of the trains, the goal is to get as many people to make use of the metro in the rush hour timings. They also aim to tackle rush hour traffic problems with this change.

Aqua Line route

Whom will it benefit?

The target for this change are the business professionals, students and office goers who have to reach in time for the morning meeting or class. If the trains are made to run more frequently, the commute becomes less time consuming and more of an advantage for them. Additionally, they can also bypass the everyday traffic that is seen at peak times in the morning and the evening.

As of now, the metro sees a daily footfall of about 12,000 commuters on weekdays and on the weekends, about 8,000 commuters. Since the trains will ply more frequently, the ridership of the metro may go up, especially on weekdays. The move is set to become functional by the month of March. The NMRC’s Aqua Line is not completely devoid of issues, but this change is one to make the masses happy.